The Patriot Post Digest 7-6-2015

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The Patriot Post Digest 7-6-2015
From The Federalist Patriot
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Daily Digest

Jul. 6, 2015

THE FOUNDATION

“Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice, and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families.” —Benjamin Rush, letter to His Fellow Countrymen: On Patriotism, 1773

TOP RIGHT HOOKS

Greece Faces Hard Economic Times of Its Own Making1

Ah, the innocence of short-term groupthink. Sixty-one percent of Greeks voted Sunday to resist the economic demands of international creditors. In doing so, the Greeks are strumming their Bouzoukis2 right into a steaming pile of economic mess. How could they not? International creditors are telling the country to cut its spending, telling the country how to spend its money. And the birthplace of democracy has figured out it can vote itself into regulatory tyranny and a death by entitlement spending. A vote against accepting the repayment plan is a vote for Greece’s bull-headed independence, whatever the consequences. Well, the consequences are dire for the country with the economic clout of Connecticut, as there’s a good chance it will be booted from the Eurozone3. Greece’s pile of rubble for an economy will disintegrate even further because it may try to resurrect its own currency, the drachma. Cue the inflation, cold creditors and hard times. While Greece’s plight sounds like the international version of a shopper with five-too-many credit cards, America should not be quick to laugh4. Our entitlement spending is increasing our $18 trillion federal debt. Meanwhile, the Greek government plans on going back to the rest of Europe to ask for another bailout5, a move that sounds like it will go over like a lead balloon.

10 Holiday Murders in Chicago, Not One by Confederate Flag6

Chicago had yet another bloody weekend, as some 64 were shot and 10 killed. Amazingly, this Independence Day weekend was a bit better than last year’s tragic numbers7, and not terribly different from any weekend on the shores of Lake Michigan. Leftists continue to cry for something to be done — “Where are the gun laws?” demands Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. But the Windy City sports some of the nation’s toughest gun control laws. Leftists often blame out-of-state guns, but, clearly, this isn’t a “gun problem8.” It’s also worth noting that none of the gangbangers doing the shooting were flying Confederate flags9, which, we gather from leftist drivel, are responsible for the Charleston murders last month. From the South Carolina state capitol to Amazon and TV Land, the Confederate flag is being purged from society, as if the Left’s politically correct exorcism can heal all racial wounds. Yet there’s nary a peep about the plague of inner city black-on-black violence created by deliberately institutionalized urban poverty plantations10, which have become mass breeding grounds for such violence.

CNN Bites the Bullet, Reports Two Former Employees Saved by Gun11

How hard must it have been for CNN to report this story12: “A former CNN reporter was wounded three times Tuesday night during a deadly shootout with a man who allegedly tried to rob him and his wife in a New Mexico motel room. Chuck de Caro and his wife, former Headline News anchor and CNN correspondent Lynne Russell, were on a road trip and spending the night at an Albuquerque motel when de Caro killed the man during what Russell called an attempted robbery.” No charges will be filed against Caro, who clearly acted in self-defense. “I am really proud of him,” Russell said. “I thank him over and over for saving my life. He really is my hero.” Of course, if the network itself had its way with guns, as typified by former anchor and anti-gun zealot Piers Morgan, this pair wouldn’t have been able to defend themselves, and CNN would be reporting about the deaths of two former CNN employees.

FEATURED RIGHT ANALYSIS
Oregon Bakers Fined, Silenced for Hurting Lesbians' Feelings13

By Nate Jackson

Not only do Christians who oppose same-sex marriage no longer have their religious liberty, they no longer have the right to free speech. At least that’s what an Oregon judge decided in the case of the bakers who refused to bake the cake for a same-sex wedding. Expect the beatings to continue until morale improves because this is what happens when “love wins14.”

In February 2013, Aaron and Melissa Klein, who owned the now-closed Sweet Cakes by Melissa, declined to bake a wedding cake for Rachel and Laurel Bowman-Cryer. At the time, same-sex marriage wasn’t even yet legal in Oregon, but no matter — the offended couple filed a complaint.

In January 2014, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which enforces discrimination law, decided the Kleins illegally discriminated.

Last Thursday, Oregon Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian issued his final decision on the punishment — just in time for Independence Day, and only days after the Supreme Court endorsed “gay marriage.”15 The Kleins must pay a fine of $135,000 in “emotional damages” to the couple they denied service. The alleged suffering included — no kidding — “acute loss of confidence,” “doubt,” “excessive sleep,” “loss of sleep,” “felt mentally raped, dirty and shameful,” “high blood pressure,” “impaired digestion,” “loss of appetite,” “migraine headaches,” “pale and sick at home after work,” “resumption of smoking habit,” “shock,” “stunned,” “surprise,” “uncertainty,” “weight gain” and “worry.”

Clearly, this couple needs serious counseling, not $135,000.

And to add gratuitous insult to unbelievably ridiculous injury for the Kleins, Avakian put a gag order on them. That’s not terribly surprising, given Avakian’s previously stated desire to “rehabilitate” the Kleins and his association with “Basic Rights Oregon,” a pro-homosexual group. Avakian wrote, “The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries hereby orders [Aaron and Melissa Klein] to cease and desist from publishing, circulating, issuing or displaying, or causing to be published … any communication to the effect that any of the accommodations … will be refused, withheld from or denied to, or that any discrimination be made against, any person on account of their sexual orientation.”

The only thing missing was the horse’s head in their bed.

The gag order is somewhat moot because the Kleins already lost their business to the Rainbow Mafia, but it may still affect the orders they take from home.

“This effectively strips us of all our First Amendment rights,” the Kleins responded. “According to the state of Oregon we neither have freedom of religion or freedom of speech.”

But some rights are more equal than others16. “This case is not about a wedding cake or a marriage,” Avakian declared. “It is about a business’s refusal to serve someone because of their sexual orientation. Under Oregon law, that is illegal.”

Avakian is dead wrong. The Kleins declined to endorse same-sex marriage by providing particular services for the couple’s wedding — they did not entirely refuse to serve them because of their gender disorientation pathology17.